The success of 6-hour hospital discharge on patients having vaginal repair operations using a new conscious sedation technique

Abstract

Anterior and posterior repair are standard surgical techniques for treatment of vaginal prolapse. These procedures are performed traditionally under general anaesthetic or spinal anaesthetic and usually require overnight admission in the hospital. We describe our case series of 40 patients who underwent anterior (18/40), posterior (20/40) or combined repair (2/40) under local anaesthetic and conscious sedation (Remifentanyl). The majority (35/40) were performed in the day-case surgery unit and 95% patients were discharged within 6 hours of the operation, with no complications. All the patients were satisfied with the anaesthetic technique. We concluded that our technique of vaginal repair avoids the risk of general and spinal anaesthetic. The majority of operations can be performed as day cases with good patient satisfaction and without increasing risks to the patients. This technique has potential significant financial saving for the hospitals.